Private Survey Strategies for the Data Desperate

Sometimes the readily available "off the shelf" published pay surveys simply don't have what you need; not the right jobs, the right data or the right participants.  You're then faced with the choice to either do without ... or do it yourself.

The "do it yourself" survey (also referred to as a private or custom survey) is one which you sponsor and/or conduct yourself in order to hone in on the specific information that you are seeking.  Typically this means either that you involve an independent third party to do the work on your behalf or that you do some portion of the legwork yourself.  (Please see, however, this post for information on the Sherman Anti-Trust Act, which governs the conduct of salary surveys, to ensure that you stay on the right side of the law in your data collection efforts.)

Participants in your private survey will typically take the time and make the effort to submit their pay information because:

1. If you need but can't find this data, chances are pretty good that they find themselves in the same boat (i.e. motivated), and
2. They receive a complimentary (courtesy of you) report of the survey results.

And, of course, if luck is shining upon you and you play your cards right, you might even get a cost sharing arrangement set up among participants to defray some of the survey expenses.

But what if you find your prospective participants less than eager about joining your survey effort?  This can happen for a host of reasons, including:

1. They are busy and understaffed (and who isn't these days) and don't have the resources to devote to completing your survey questionnaire
2. They are not sure they need/want the data as badly as you do
3. They - or their superiors who must approve their involvement - have concerns about the confidentiality of the survey process

In addition, it is simply true that industries vary significantly in terms of their level of inter-organizational competition versus collaboration.  I'm working right now with an organization in just such an industry; it is a relatively small industry with less than a dozen major players and - traditionally - there has been little to no contact among HR folks in the different firms.  This is a pretty significant - potentially insurmountable even - hurdle to any kind of survey effort.  And yet, the lack of competitive data presents a critical issue for us, so that we feel we must give it a shot.

In my experience, there are some strategies (other than the obvious one of following anti-trust guidelines and providing an ABSOLUTE guarantee of a professional and confidential survey process) to better your odds of success in situations like this.  My client and I have been doing some brainstorming on these and it occurred to me that some of the ideas might be worth sharing here, for readers who find themselves facing a similar dilemma.

And so, following that l-o-n-g preamble, I bring you a select sample of private survey strategies for the data desperate.

• Create a survey group where direct labor competition is minimized.  We used this approach recently in designing a survey for a real estate development firm, where there was a high sense of labor competition among local businesses.  We researched and selected a group of national peer firms, no two in the same geographic area - in order to collect relevant data while minimizing concerns about the information being used to poach employees.  We clearly explained our logic to the prospective participants; most agreed and liked the strategy.  The survey was a big success.
• Offer a customized survey report.  Rather than a one-size-fits-all report of results, offer each participant a customized summary where their pay data is broken out from and compared to survey norms, including an overall competitive summary.  This can be an attractive value-add.
• Offer a seminar of survey highlights.  As an extra bonus for submitting data, offer a free seminar to participants at the back end, featuring a brief presentation of survey highlights and the opportunity to discuss them with peers.  In prospective survey groups where secrecy is a big deal, this could also be done as a private on-site session with each participating firm (obviously a more expensive and resource-intensive option).

Readers, what strategies have you found to be successful in coaxing survey participation out of a reluctant group of peer organizations?